My love of flowers runs deep. The happiness they bring to me is immeasurable. This last stay at Hawthorne is testimony to that fact. The eve we arrived a good sized snow arrived and we did not leave the house the next day. Which on almost all levels is heaven to me. Only thing missing were some blooms set about which we would normally pick up shopping our first full day there. I can honestly say I felt a tad off kilter that first day. Once we got out and did a little grocery shopping and picked up a bundle of lilies, all was right in my world. I know for some of you reading that might sound/seem extreme, but I really did breath easier once they dotted about the rooms. Flowers settle me. They make a space come alive. Others of you reading completely know what I am talking about. I am not meaning anything excessive or overly extravagant, just a few blooms that make the rooms full of life. Moments after arriving back in Seattle the other evening to the apartment, I walked straight to Whole Foods to pick up a bundle of tulips for the very same reason. The rooms woke up once the single stems were set here and there and all was right. The world may be chaotic outside, but home can envelop us. With a few flowers it certainly does for me. Happy week-end all! Much love, TKW

Flower Friday brings us a single lily stem I picked up at the new Whole Foods a few blocks from the apartment on Monday. The buds were tightly closed. Within days they started to open ever so beautifully. The scent catching me the moment the elevator doors open on to our floor. Heaven. Hope you all have a grand week-end! X, T

Flower Friday is a nod to the glorious arrival of Autumn and all the grandness it brings. The images from last year at this time at Hawthorne. We head there in a little over a week and we can hardly wait–where the season seems to be like a movie we watch change over the time of our stay.

It is a fun contrast to Seattle, where the season is much more gentle. Back East, it is a riot of color. It is not a better, just different, and we feel quite fortunate to have both in our lives. The below from the table I set for a photo shoot I did for Pottery Barn. The single lily floating in the vessel bringing a little yellow to the table.

Flower Friday brings us super fragrant white lilies. I have long had a love for these blooms. They have a calming effect to me. The white working with really any type of design and color in a room, so they compliment and don’t compete. This time of year lots of the flower vendors at the Market have buckets of them. They last almost two weeks with fresh cuts and new water along the way. I place them almost always in single stem containers so each bloom gets center stage. Then they get placed about. One even made its way out to where the elevator opens so we see one the moment we get home.

On this last day of August when the blooms are abundant and the herb pots are overflowing, Flower Friday is about some of the flowers & herbs that brightened my day this week. The morning after we flew back from New York I did an early quick grocery run. The lilies catching my eye. I scattered them about in single stem vases, their heady luscious scent we are greeted with the moment we open the front door.

The big scented geranium we have in the big window at the Market shop was bursting with red blooms welcoming me back. I loves all the diffused light it gets tucked up on the ledge for all to enjoy as they shop away.

The dahlias are still going strong and I could not wait to walk about all the flower stalls at the Market and choose a bunch. The above folks got to enjoy for the day before they got packed up and headed to the island. These were the flowers used in low glasses for our mix & match Sunday supper table.

And lastly, paying homage to the flowering herbs that greeted us when we got back to WestWard. TPS snipped off a bunch of stems for me to play with. This one up in the treehouse bending and swaying as if doing a dance in honor of the season.

This last Flower Friday of the year is a look back on the last twelve months of blooms. Whether a single stem or a large mass, the beauty of flowers for the soul is like air or water to me, as I know they are to many of you, necessary on many levels. Here are some of my favorites I think you might remember, and for certain know you will enjoy…

I picked up a bunch of the most interesting color lilies at the little Pike Street & First Avenue corner flower shop the other day. Almost a pink translucent, like vellum. The scent heavenly, I dotted them about the rooms in single stem vases to spread the love around. Thought they had a lovely Flower Friday vibe to them as we head into the Holiday week-end.

To me a supper of take-out deserves equal respect to a home cooked meal when it comes to setting the table. During these busy times, ordering out can be a lifesaver. Case in point, last eve, we had a hankering for barbecue. Our table for two using the English Wedgwood plates from Mister Sive’s Hamilton College days got things rolling, as well as the new Libeco Belgian linen dish towels we stock at WK that I like to roll up and use as napkins. We were off and running! A few pomanders I like to make in honor of the season, paperwhites in a pot as well as being forced in a glass compote, a happy potted fern, lilies in full bloom, the myrtle topiary in an old silver trophy–and a cozy table was set, ready to honor the meal.

When reflecting on the tip from yesterday and trying to stay in the zen of the moment, my mind went straight to flowers and candles–two of my great loves. I think what draws me to both is they help me to slow down a bit, be present. Looking at a bloom or lighting a candle becomes a moment in time.

In the hustle & bustle of the day on Sunday, with customers swirling about, I lit a candle in a shop display. The moment so clear in my brain that time seemed to stand still for that second. The lily in the hallway at The Gainsborough and the paperwhites in the kitchen blooming catch my eye as I walk by, giving me a second of pause. To remember that time, that feeling, that pleasure.

As the sunny season wraps up today, Flower Friday is all about the blooms we enjoyed along the way. From the very last of the peony as Spring faded away to the bold yellowy reds of the season ending dahlias, and all sorts of goodness in between. Whether singularly or in abundance, this Summer was a stellar flower time for all to enjoy.

Each word of the book is so lovingly spoken and your voice exudes such warmth and kindness. You are so genuine with your readers. And so interested in teaching them how to love… Love art…. Love nature… Love small things… Love friends… Love family… And love life.

— Haley from New York

Ted’s ‘Style & Simplicity’ is absolutely Lovely (with a capital L)! It’s also charming, fun to read, and full of wonderful advice.

— Newell Turner, Editor in Chief at House Beautiful

Ted Kennedy Watson has a most refined sense of aesthetics…and he shares some of his best secrets, for which I am so grateful!

— Lisa Birnbach, author of The Official Preppy Handbook

Ted, and his namesake fine good emporiums Watson Kennedy are legendary in this town. What he does brilliantly is quality over trend, substance over vapid style.

— Kaye Wellman, author Eat, Shop, Seattle

If you’ve ever wanted to walk through a stylized photo in a magazine this shop is a phenomenal fix for that as the merchandising is crazy delicious to feast your eyes upon.

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— Apartment Therapy

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Truly a visual feast for the eyes and palate.Thank you for sharing your abundance of “everything good”.We customers are transported to shopping heaven while in your store(s) and website.

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We’ve long been fans of Seattle retailer Ted Kennedy Watson and his first title certainly lives up to it’s stylish name. The lavish A to Z guide is bursting with tips on how to create a cozy, chic and inviting home.